Prince Charles is in the news, the Supreme Court ruling that his letters to government minister can be published after all. Not everyone is a fan of his interventions, but he has certainly spoken up about one issue few in Government seem to care about – the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. It is the subject of this week’s cover story in The Catholic Herald.

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At the Spectator, on Nigel Farage’s pub lunch There was something genuinely frightening about the disturbance aimed at Nigel Farage and his family this weekend; what’s scary is that there seem to be so many people in our country who think a man having lunch with his family is a legitimate target for such a stunt because of his views. If you’re prepared to do that in front of people’s kids, you can likely do anything. Their self-justification… Read on

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At the Catholic Herald Richard III, again – last time I promise Of England’s monarchs, only King John did something as monstrous, and his nephew Arthur was old enough to be a combatant and by the sounds of things probably deserved it (before being captured by John, Arthur had just besieged his own grandmother Eleanor of Aquitaine). Yet it all makes sense in some gruesome way; Richard’s coup was in order to pre-empt a takeover by the queen’s family, the… Read on

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A subject that pains some students of the subjects, who are behind a campaign to make the subject more diverse. But why is the subject so dominated by white males? What are the reasons? some of these include the systemic killing of female philosophers, massacres of some of our earliest thinkers such as the Aztec; and the destruction of ancient African cities that illuminate the thinking of old civilisations. William of Ockham probably wouldn’t agree, but… Read on

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One of the most moving passages from English history comes from the Venerable Bede on the converson of King Edwin of Northumbria. Meeting a council of elders, the king of the north, whose life had been saved by a Christian, discussed the possibility of adopting the new religion. Christianity had come to Kent at the end of the 6th century and had spread to Essex and East Anglia; its conquest of the entire Anglo-Saxon world perhaps seemed inevitable and pagans might… Read on

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I’m writing on the alienation that is driving young European Muslims towards groups like ISIS. As I’ve written before somewhere, probably numerous times, living between two cultures can often inspire wonderful introspection, and in the strong-willed, talented or wealthy it can produce great art, literature and comedy (the Jewish comic being a classic example) and a more nuanced look at identity. Or as the stupendously wealthy, talented and successful Salman Rushdie can reflect from Manhattan: ‘In our swollen,… Read on

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Lots of people are angry with Lord Bates , who said that ‘For the calendar year of 2013, births in the UK to non UK-born mothers accounted for 25 per cent of all live births. That is why we ned to reduce immigration’. Wow, just wow. As the son of an immigrant I can be deeply offended, if someone wants to pay me to write an article saying so. What is never questioned in public discourse on this… Read on

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Here’s a fascinating story THERE ARE real tribal differences between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil that date back hundreds of years before the foundation of the State, according to two political scientists. An analysis of the names of all of the TDs who have served in the Dáil shows that Fine Gael TDs are more likely to come from Norman/Old English families while Fianna Fáilers tend to come from Gaelic backgrounds. The analysis was carried out by Dr… Read on